Buckle



June'S. 1956 c. P. HOFFMAN 2,748,436

BUCKLE Filed March 23, 1953 Fig.

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Char/es Hoffman 4 INVENTOR.

WWW 5mm United States Patent O BUCKLE Charles P. Holman, Kokomo, Ind.

Application March 23, 1953, Serial No. 344,139

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-77) This invention relates to buckles and more particu larly to a buckle for use with a belt or the like. An object of this invention is to provide a buckle of improved construction which when operatively fastened will conceal the free end of a belt.

Another object of this invention is to provide a belt buckle construction which may be easily and quickly fastened for securing the opposite ends of a belt together to t the wearer.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a belt whose ends are secured together by the novel buckle construction;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken substantially along the plane of section line 2-2 of Figure 1 and showing details of the buckle construction;

Figure 3 is an exploded view of a portion of the belt employing the buckle; and

Figure 4 is a transverse section taken substantially along the plane of section line 4-4 of Figure 1 and showing the detachable engagement of one end of the belt within the buckle.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral indicates one end of a belt which is secured more or less permanently to the buckle and reference numeral 12 indicates the other end of the belt which is detachably engaged with the buckle and which is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures or holes 14. The belt is, as is conventional, formed of flexible material such as leather, plastic or the like.

The buckle proper comprises a front plate portion 16 whose opposite sides are provided with right angular flanges 18 and whose ends are provided with right angular flanges 20 and 22 respectively. End flange 20 is provided with an elongated slot for the reception of the stationary end 10 of the belt and when disposed therein and provided with the metallic end tab 24, the belt is prevented from being disengaged from the buckle. A rivet 26 or similar fastening element may be provided for maintaining the end tab 24 in place on the belt.

A fastening or securing element 28 is adapted to be secured on the other end of the belt and includes a main body portion which extends transversely of the belt and end portions 30 are reversely bent upon the body portion in spaced overlying relation thereto so as to embrace the opposite edges of the belt. A laterally offset projection or lug 32 is carried medially of the main body portion of the member and is adapted to be selectively projected within one of the various apertures 14 to vary the effective length of the belt when buckled to lit the waist of a user or wearer.

One end of the side flanges 18 is provided with inwardly projecting ears 34 and end flange 22 terminates short of these ears and cooperates therewith to form a pocket at one end of the buckle for embracingly engaging and securely fastening therein the element 28 when such element is disposed within the pocket. In this manner, the belt assembly, when fastened, will have its free end 36 concealed beneath the stationary end 10 to provide a neat and attractive belt assembly. It will be readily apparent that slight longitudinal relative movement between the buckle and the belt end 12 will effect disengagement of member 28 from its retaining pocket so that the belt may be quickly and easily fastened and unfastened about the person of the wearer.

Obviously, lug 32 is formed so as to present a groove in the manner shown to be effectively seated with one of the surfaces formed bythe apertures 14.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope 0f the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

In a belt construction, an elongated flexible strap having a free end provided with longitudinally spaced openings therein, an elongated plate having one end connected to the other end of said strap, and coacting means 0n the free end of the strap and the other end of said plate for connecting said free end to said plate comprising an elongated securing element extending transversely of said free end with reversely bent end portions slidably securing said securing element on said free end and an offset hooked lug on one end of said securing element selectively engageable in said openings by sliding of said securing element, a pair of longitudinal edge flanges on said plate between which said securing element is slidable toward the other end of the plate, a transverse flange on said other end of the plate engaging and limiting sliding of said securing element toward said other end of the plate, and a pair of inturned edge ears on said longitudinal anges opposite and overlying said transverse ilange and said securing element when said securing element is engaged with said transverse ange and being spaced from said transverse flange to accommodate the free end of the strap between said pair of ears and said transverse flange.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,456,130 Johnson et al. May 22, 1923 1,491,428 Starmer Apr. 22, 1924 1,500,363 Buchsbaum July 8, 1924 1,618,389 Sampson et al. Feb. 22, 1927 1,682,450 Wanninger et al Aug. 28, 1928 1,702,674 Veneman Feb. 19, 1929 1,848,407 Barrett Mar. 8, 1932 1,852,585 McDonald Apr. 5, 1932 2,138,542 Goldberg Nov. 29, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 153,991 Austria Aug. 10, 1938 428,153 Germany Apr. 27, 1926 656,532 Germany Feb. 8, 1938 

